Legal Question in Insurance Law in Massachusetts
Auto Accident Compensation
My friend was recently involved in an accident in which he hit someone who pulled out in front of him on a rainy day without looking. My friend's car was destroyed and not worth fixing, and he didn't have collision insurance, so he signed it over to a garaged to have it junked. The other car was not damaged badly. My question: As the accident was clearly the fault of the other driver, is my friend able to receive any sort of compensation from the other man's insurance co. for the loss of his car? If so, how should he go about doing this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Auto Accident Compensation
Did he file an accident report, I hope?
Your friend can talk to his insurance agent to see if they'll
file on his behalf against the other guy's insurance company;
alternatively, he can file a claim with the other guy's
insurance company directly. Either one works. Often the other
guy's insurance company will contact your guy directly ... mostly
to collect evidence (his statement) that he wasn't hurt in the
accident, to help prevent him from later starting
to think he should
make some huge claim for personal injury.
(My opinion: don't even think about doing that!)
However, I disagree somewhat with your statement:
"the accident was clearly the fault of the other driver"
Anytime car A hits car B, it is almost by default the
fault of car A; car B was there first, even if you think
he should not have been. If car B was taking a left turn,
then the tables may be turned. Insurance companies have their
own quick rules of thumb in these days of no-fault insurance
in this state so that they can settle amongst themselves without
access to courts or even hearings, a process that I think they
call subrogation. Those rules of thumb might go against you.
Good luck!
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